closed starters || Part 2

[makemeasong]

WHO: Clara Oswald + some closed starters
WHEN: Part two of the arc!
WHERE: frozen forests, the caravan, probably other places eventually.
WHAT: gathering the maiden veil, looking tough, and other misc. things.
WARNINGS: Will update as needed, but so far none needed.

Comments

no worries, we're all on Life's timetable lol <3

[makemeasong]

[ The less Clara struggles, the lighter the grip becomes, which is good for her, because she could hardly breathe. Her problem now, is being exposed to so much cold directly against her body. Even through her warmer clothes, she feels chilled. The Cold-Heart makes a series of sounds, guttural as if trying to talk to her.

Does it...want to be nice to her? She has no idea what to do, she can't stay. She has a distinct feeling she can't stay within such a cold grasp for very long. That's when she sees Nacho and hope sparks. Maybe together, they can come up with something. She addresses the creature loudly, so that perhaps Nacho can hear. ]

You don't want to hurt me, do you? You wanted a child, you...think...I'm a child.

[ Cool, cool cool cool. She's been taken hostage as a surrogate child. She's pressed against an icy body and the cold makes her shiver immediately. ]

Can you understand me? I'm cold, yeah? I can't stay.

[ There's tight squeezing around her again and the message is clear: she isn't leaving. But it does place her on a high ledge for safekeeping. Then, it begins to lumber away, going deeper into its dwelling. ]

<3!!

[nachocheese]

[Nacho's breath is visible with every heavy exhale as he scales the slippery side of the mountain. That thing is huge! The enormity of it would overwhelm his senses if he weren't so intent on compartmentalizing to keep himself sane enough to get to Clara.

He can hear her talking to it. That it thinks she's a child? That it wants to... keep her???

He will be entertained by that later on, but he's too focused on his goal for such things.

Every lumbering step it takes away shakes the ground. Nacho is undeterred, hoisting himself further up the side of the canyon until he's able to extend a hand to Clara on her ledge.]

Hey! [He's breathing hard.] C'mere. Before Frosty the Homicidal Snowman comes back.

[He thrusts out an arm to reach for her, intent on helping her onto his back so they can slide down the slippery ice cavern walls together. And maybe she can borrow some of his body heat, too. He's cold, but she looks freezing.]

[makemeasong]

[ She feels like she's been in a meat locker built on an iceberg, but when Clara sees Nacho, relief makes her sluggishness dissipate a little. ]

You're insane, you're gonna break a hip.

[ She whispers her words even as she begins to carefully move, reaching out for him in return and trying not to slip, causing them both to go down. ]

The kid, is the kid okay?

[ Clara only asks once she's safely beside Nacho, still holding onto his hands tightly. It's only here that she almost slips, but at least she didn't slide down and right into him. ]

[nachocheese]

[Nacho almost laughs when she tells him he's insane. He doesn't laugh, though, but he smile just a little and hiss back, almost playfully:]

I'm insane? You're ungrateful. Next time I'm just leaving you up here with that attitude.

[He keeps his hand held out until he feels her fingers brush his. He's cold, sure -- his breath visible as white wisps in the air can attest to that -- but her fingers feel like solid ice.]

Kid's fine. I handed him off to somebody else. They're with the caravan now.

[He'll pull her close as gently as he can, trying to ease Clara onto his back as he slowly, slooowly starts to ease himself down. Somewhere distantly in the back of his mind, it occurs to him that this entire situation is fucking insane; but that idle thought is completely blocked off by adrenaline and the knowledge that he needs to do what he has to do.

He whispers again to Clara.]

Ready?

[Somewhere, he thinks he hears rumbling, maybe feels shaking? Oh God, not a-fucking-nother one. Please, please let that be his imagination...]

[makemeasong]

[ Clara manages a shaky laugh from both his words and the cold. She weighs maybe about as much as a wet feather once she's on his back, and her arms wrap around him, pressing her freezing face into the crook of Nacho's warm neck. She nods at his question, holding onto him tightly.

Once they start making their way down, she feels the vibration begin in Nacho's feet and move through her. A sound of legitimate fear makes its way out of Clara's throat as a gasp passes her lips. A Cold Heart is coming to see the new child, and the vibrations of its footfalls make the ice around them shake and crack, threatening to fall from above. ]

Nacho—

[ She says his name but doesn't ask him to hurry. He knows, she knows that he does. They have to get out now, right now. They have to make their way past a giant before the other returns. There's a bit of cover in the large boulders on the ground, and Clara tries to point with a shaky finger, at a crack in the ice wall; a gap big enough for them, but too small for the Cold Heart. Maybe it's deep, a hidden way out... ]